DBS Remit: International Transfer Charges and Rates

Living in Hong Kong, you might have heard of DBS before. The Singaporean banking giant offers people in Hong Kong unique banking and financial experience, including international money transfer. In general, DBS customers can send money overseas with either the DBS Remit service, or through a standard outward telegraphic transfer. This article will introduce DBS Bank's overseas remittance services, especially DBS Remit, and explain the exchange rate, handling fees, time required and process of DBS remittances.

This article also touches on a comparison of the DBS overseas transfer fee against alternative providers like Wise - so you can know more options to decide which works best for you.

Learn more about Wise

What is DBS Remit?

In general, DBS Remit and telegraphic transfer are both international money transfer services, but they differ significantly in terms of the available currency routes and countries. With DBS Remit , you can send payments in 12 currencies to 44 countries¹, while oversea transfer allows you to send money in 18 major currencies. If you are a current customer of DBS, you can also track end-to-end transfer status in DBS iBanking and DBS digibank HK app. This feature allows you to locate your transfer in real time. This tracking capability, however, only covers 4 destinations: Singapore, Indonesia, India, and Mainland China.

DBS Remit service waives all transfer fees - although you might notice an exchange rate markup while using the service. Outward telegraphic transfers have some handling fees based on destination and the method you use to transfer. More on that later!

You’ll need to use a telegraphic transfer if you’re sending to a different currency than that of the destination country (for example: remit SGD to Hong Kong while you are in Singapore), or if DBS Remit doesn’t cover your destination.

DBS Remit: How are the exchange rates?

You can easily check the DBS’s website reference materials for 14 major currencies' exchange rates. Supposedly if you want to exchange 1000 Hong Kong Dollar into Singapore Dollar, you can check the rate below for a comparison of the foreign exchange rates between Wise and DBS Bank:³

Exchange rate check date: May 17, 2024

As you might have seen, Wise offers a better rate than DBS if we take the remittance of Singapore dollars for example. Wise is able to do this because it commits to using the mid-market exchange rate - which is usually cheaper than the banking exchange rate. The DBS Remit will, on the other hand, follow the banking exchange rate. These rates often include considerations of costs, profits and exchange rate risks.

So, even if you will not see any wire transfer fees, you should know that usually there is really no such a thing as free transfer! It is just that traditional banks tend to hide the handling fees in the exchange rate difference. The more money you want to transfer, the more expensive this hidden fee becomes.

Another note to take is that you might see a different rate at the time of transaction, and you can see the most accurate DBS Bank exchange rate when logged into online banking or DBS App.

DBS Remit: How much are the fees?

The following are DBS’s charges for different types of remittances (applicable to general personal banking customers):²

As mentioned above, even though DBS remit doesn’t charge any fees, the markup added to the exchange rate used can still push up the cost compared to other providers. Let’s take another example if you want to remit $1,000 HKD to GBP

Exchange rate check date: May 06, 2024

DBS Remit: How much can I send?

DBS also set daily maximum limits for transfer depending on your chosen currency. Typically, you can send up to 3,000,000 HKD daily. However, there are some special cases in which you can only send a certain amount per day. You can also refer to the summary below:

• AUD, CAD, SGD, INR, GBP, USD, EUR, JPY: 3,000,000 HKD
• CNY: 80,000 CNY
• PHP: 3,000,000 HKD (490,000 PHP per transaction)
• IDR: 3,000,000 HKD
  • Non Resident: 50,000 USD
  • Mim: 100,000 IDR/ transaction
  • Max: 35,000 USD/ transaction
• THB: 3,000,000 HKD (maximum of 49,999 THB/transaction)

DBS Remit: How long does it take?

Normally, DBS Remit supports same day transfer of HKD to the designated destination. DBS Remit also imposes cut-off times — some of which are very early — for same-day transfers to go through. And in general, your recipients will receive the transfer within two to four working days.

DBS Remit: How to send money?

If you have already been a customer of DBS, you can use DBS Remit on your digibank. You can follow these steps:

1. Log in with your account and password;
2. Select “Pay & Transfer”, then select “Overseas Transfer Funds”;
3. Select existing recipient- if you have want to send money to somebody who you haven’t sent before, select “add new recipient”;
4. Enter transaction details; and
5. Verify details and submit

Whatever your need is, DBS Remit or the traditional telegraphic is very much an easy-to-use service. Your experience with DBS in general will be straightforward and seamless. However, DBS, just like other traditional banks, will charge you low hidden fees- which means you might pay more than you expect. And, with the traditional telegraphic transfer, fees can sometimes be expensive yet confusing.

So, if you're looking for a better alternative to traditional banks to transfer your money, check out Wise, which is a cheap, fast, and transparent alternative.

Unlike most of the traditional banks, Wise uses the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees or markups for currency conversions. You just pay a low, transparent fee: you can see the cost and the total amount your recipient will receive before you confirm your Wise payment.

For a simple, secure international payment service in 70+ different countries and in 50 currencies, check out the options available from Wise.

Send money with Wise

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